As
John the apostle continued to share about the “tribulation” that
was to come upon the earth, he shared concerning the first six seals
Jesus removed from the “scroll” in God's right hand. He then
began to write about what happened when Jesus,
“had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the
space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before
God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came
and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given
unto him much incense, that he should offer it
with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before
the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which
came
with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the
angel's hand.” In
chapter eight and verse five John saw how “the
angel took the censer; and filled it with fire of the altar” where
we read:
and
there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an
earthquake.
The
verse reads, “And
the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and
cast it
into the earth:”
John
began with the words, “and
the angel”
which means “and the messenger, envoy and one who is sent” “took
the censer” or
“held, carried and removed the container for burning incense”,
“and
filled it” which
means “made it completely full” “with
fire”
or “with the fiery burning” “of
the altar”which
refers to “pertaining to God's
holy place of sacrifices and offerings made of God”,
“and cast it”
or “let go of, scatter, throw and pour out the fiery burning”
“into
the earth” which
refers to “onto the arable land, country, territory and region”.
John saw the “angel”
take the “censer”
and completely filled it with
“fire” from
the “altar
of
God”
to be thrown upon the earth.
The
verse continues, “... and
there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an
earthquake.” John
added the words, “and
there were voices”
which means “there appeared sounds, tones, speeches and languages”,
“and
thunderings”
which means “noises like thunders in the sky”, “and
lightnings”
or “gleams and glares of bright shining light”, “and
an earthquake”
or “and a shaking, commotion or tempest”. John heard “tones,
sounds, languages and thunders”, “lightning
strikes” and a tempestuous quaking of the earth.
When
we consider John's words in this verse, we see the first effect upon
the earth for the “seven
trumpets”
given to the “seven
angels”
before God's altar. We cannot imagine the horrific affects these
“trumpet blasts” shall have upon people who will be living in
that time, and this becomes sufficient reason to receive Jesus Christ
as “Savior and Lord” before these things certainly come to pass.
God desires to rescue and save every person who will yield their life
to Him, and there is no better time to avoid the “censer
filled with fire”
than today. Let all who read these words know and accept God's offer
of “salvation” through Jesus.
Next
time
John shares how “the
angel takes the censer and cast it in the earth”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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